Children of the World Tree
by Aiko Isari
Summary: [XW/Hunters] Magitech! AU. Akashi Tagiru has a good life, especially following the event that altered the form of the internet: the Cyberian War that's in everyone's head but no one remembers. But when he makes a wrong turn into the forbidden zones, he gets pulled into the secret lives of his good friends and the allure of the ones who live there.


_Warning: Slight age up and cursing_

* * *

A short time ago, there was a war, a war that was meant to go down in flames. It was to burn up in secret with no world knowing the wiser, leaving all in peace and plenty of secrets.

Due to a sacrifice, however, reality changed forever and everyone knew. Nobody remembered the truth, but they remembered something.

Now, the remaining embers have begun to burn once more, the black colors of the hunting flags. From them came the whispers from deep beneath the earth. The monsters have begun to roam.

At long last, god has woken up.

 _Part One: The Boy and the Unordinary_

It was his ninth-grade year, the year of exams and pressure, the year his mother had warned him about. He wasn't supposed to think of anything beyond a good impression for the high school and good grades.

And yet...

"I... I find you cute, so... so maybe you could give me a chance?"

Here he was.

Akashi Tagiru blinked at the bowing girl, framed by trees tinted aquamarine by the glow of nearby interfaces. He didn't have to see her face to know her eyes were watering with tears, or note the shaking in her shoulders to say she was nervous. He scratched his nose. looking feebly towards the half-open windows. People were looking, of course. "Uhh..." He just was not good at this. "Could you, uh, lift your head, or something?"

He thought that he had done this more times in middle school than he ever would after and it was still weird as hell.

She perked a bit, and raised her head, straightening somewhat. "S-sure." She giggled, and Tagiru felt the thumping of his heart start to soften. He took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself to let the other shoe drop.

"I'm sorry, but, uh, I'm gonna have to refuse." The tears welled and he mentally groaned. "It's not you, just, ya know..." He scratched his head, knowing better than to be completely honest. "I need to focus on my studies or Mom will beat my head with a broom. And, besides, I-" He cut himself off and saw her big eyes widen even more. He knew what she was thinking: _there are more important things than that?_

There was a giant elephant in the room every time this happened, and to Tagiru, who had no idea where this popularity surge had come from, it was like having cotton stuck in his throat. He really wished he could just say _it_ and be done with it.

But he couldn't just say "I prefer dudes, I think", as much as he really wanted to, so he went for a better answer. At least he hoped it was a better answer. "Besides, I think you're too cute for me." He paused and reached into his pocket, pulling out a handkerchief. He had learned to keep these around. "Here. Sorry, again. I appreciate your feelings, but I haveta say no."

The girl (and the worst part was that he didn't even know her name) managed a wet smile. "No, no, it's fine. Thank you. I'm glad you, that you didn't lie to me. Thank you very much." Her face turned pink. "Pl-Please excuse me!" She turned and hurried away, probably to her friends that would leave rude notes in his locker.

Tagiru groaned. "Darn it..." At least he hadn't lied. Yeah, _right_.

"Smooth," snorted a familiar voice from behind a tree. "You are the pinnacle of class as always."

Tagiru glared at the tree, the red streak in his hair flopping out of control over his face. "You reject them then, Ryouma. She was crying." He really wished tear ducts didn't exist, or at least had a better alternative.

Ryouma chuckled, brushing his silver hair out of his face. He stepped out, putting both hands back in his pockets. His green eyes sparkled with the twitching of his lips. "Well, you _did_ say no."

"I have a right to," Tagiru defended with a pout, crossing his arms. "It's not like I ask for this, you know!"

Ryouma rolled his eyes. "There are plenty of boys who wish they had your problem. And girls for that matter." He smoothed a crease in his shirt. "Come on, we're going to be late if you keep standing here."

Tagiru rolled his eyes. Drama queen, they were never late.

Though if that confession was any indication, today was going to _suck_.

* * *

"Today _suuuuckkksss_!"

Ryouma tried not to snort. "It's physicals. Today shouldn't be that bad."

Tagiru glowered at him. He had known him since the beginning of middle school (couldn't remember _how_ the nightmare had started either). Swore the guy forgot his dislike of this stuff on purpose. "I'm _short._ I don't need these people to tell me that I'm _short_. Puberty hates me."

"It's helped girls think that you're cute," Ryouma offered, putting his rings into his bag. "Gets you no luck anywhere else though."

Tagiru flicked a paper wad at him. "That's the problem." He groaned again. "We sure it's not Monday? Are we _sure_?"

Ryouma rolled his eyes, taking him by the arm and dragging him from the classroom, ignoring his halfhearted kicking and screaming. As they made a turn, he caught a flash of blond hair. "Yuu-kun?"

The footsteps paused and turned around. Tagiru grimaced, busying himself with trying to get free. Great, had to deal with the _prince_ of their grade. They had been in separate classes for so long, he was almost home free. Popular, quiet, smart, and somehow able to make the crappy school uniform look good (Though Yuu would never hear that from him! _Never_!), he would be a great guy if he-

Yuu nodded at Ryouma, periwinkle eyes as blank as ever. They alighted on Tagiru, who had finally managed to wrangle himself free of his friend's grip on his arm. Yuu just frowned at him, or maybe his face was stuck that way. Either way, it almost had him seeing red.

"What?" he said, making sure to scowl.

Yuu gave him a stiff shoulder shrug and shook his head. "They've got a few student nurses to help with the boys so we're doing out vitals and the like in the gymnasium."

"Great," Tagiru muttered. "We get a workout before we even _get_ there."

Ryouma snorted and Yuu raised an eyebrow. Tagiru glowered at them. That there was the reason he and Yuu would never get along. Yuu was an _asshole._

Well, okay, he wasn't a complete ass, but the line was pretty clear. He had rarely seen the guy crack a smile that wasn't at a girl, and that was just phony.

"Let's go before I tie you up and drag you," Ryouma said with a laugh. Tagiru glared and trudged after them, listening to Yuu and Ryouma chat with half an ear. He never had any clue what they were talking about, another sore point. Ryouma was his friend, and Yuu probably had a legion willing to talk about complicated crap with. Thankfully, the walk was short. They were hustled into the gym by a few harried teacher aides and Tagiru reluctantly straightened his clothes. His physique wasn't exactly something to be proud of. He was wiry, and track helped, but wimpy guys weren't useful in doing things.

"You're losing weight," the nurse said, giving him an anxious look. She scrawled on her touchpad.

Tagiru grinned, trying to take the edge off of the obvious. "I have a fast metabolism." He always had. It was great sometimes.

"Even so, you need to be careful," the nurse chided. "You're small for your age and it's going to show on your records and health plan. You won't be able to access the circuits if you don't get at least a bit closer to the-"

"I get it," he interrupted. Tagiru scowled a little, trying to ignore the intern's obvious discomfort and urge to yell at him. Hah. Bastard. He already knew it, he was small and annoying and needed to be a bit more than a weed. It wasn't like he was dying so who gave a damn?

Oh right, the _magic_ gave a damn, the magic that everyone said had always been there, but Tagiru couldn't even remember existing until three years before. Not that he had the best memory but even he would remember something that cool.

"A-At any rate, go on ahead to the next station."

Tagiru rolled his eyes and left, leaving the poor idiot to normal people. As he went to sit down at the hearing test, a chill ran up his spine. He looked to his left. Something was moving past the window. He watched it, the tiny blur hopping from bush to bush. What the heck is that? He made to move towards it when a quiet voice cut through his thoughts.

"Akashi-kun, was it?"

Tagiru turned to see Yuu, who was regarding him with something like... concern? "I'm finished at the hearing station. You can take mine."

"Ah... all right, sure. Thanks..." Tagiru shook his head, looking back outside again. "I coulda sworn something was out there..."

Yuu looked him over, blue eyes as dim as ever. "Curiosity can be dangerous," he said after a minute. "I'd recommend reining it in a little, for your own sake." He walked away, leaving Tagiru staring after him.

Tagiru scowled after a minute, breaking from his stupor.

Why was that guy such a _bastard_?

* * *

Deep inside a world of gold, a girl stood on a swing. Gripping the ropes tightly in each hand, she pushed the plank of wood up and back, beginning a clumsy attempt at swinging. The tree branches shifted and she laughed. "No, don't worry, I won't fall!" She hadn't fallen yet, no need to break a trend! She swung her legs up and back, throwing her body higher into the air. For a few moments, the scene was idyllic to an observer.

Then the golden sky turned amber, and the girl sighed. "There it goes again," she said to herself. Such a weird trend. A leaf spun in the wind and fell onto her head, glowing all the colors of the rainbow. She smiled again. "I got it, I'll go take a look!" She jumped from the swing, landing on bare feet. Then, with a bright wave, she hurried away into the darkness.

The large tree swayed and the light shrank, curling around itself like a person left out in the cold.

* * *

The final bell rang and Tagiru glanced over his homework. Gotta be responsible, he reminded himself, and loathed it. He hated tests. At least cram school wasn't starting for another couple of days. But he hated tests! Ugh!

He was going to shoot some hoops. Or something. "Ryouma, is Ren in detention?"

"Probably. I haven't gotten any calls from the police station." Ryouma sighed, rubbing his eyes. "What I wouldn't give to leash him."

"That's illegal, Ryouma!" He grinned. "You have somewhere to be?"

"Piano," he said with another sigh. "Then people are coming over."

Tagiru rolled his eyes. "Your mom, the socialite. Good luck. Catch you later!" He left, needing to clear his buzzing brain. Thankfully by the time he had gotten to the courts, the older kids had cleared out. He didn't know if he wanted to be a high schooler right now or not.

He dribbled aimlessly, sighing. Basketball was such a _team_ thing. Too bad nobody ever wanted to play. He'd tried to make a street team when he had started here. Apparently he was too short for them.

Elitists.

"You're pretty good."

Tagiru only managed not to jump as high as the basketball hoop by sheer force of will. He turned to see Yuu standing just inside the fence. The blond picked up the falling ball and gave it a investigating bounce. "Good condition too. Play often?"

"Sometimes." This was weird. Third time today he'd seen Amano Yuu and again, he was still stuck somewhere between bastard and nice guy. It was like whiplash. Was this a sign of things to come? He hoped not. He agreed with tv, there was nothing worse than having something you could want and couldn't have dangled over you like well cooked meat. "You?"

"A bit." A crooked grin -did the prince just smile?- crossed the other's lips. "A friend of mine showed me the basics. Pick up game?"

The word _game_ made Tagiru's eyes sparkle and chest burn before he could clamp down on it. "Sure… if you're not scared of messing up your hair."

The grin popped up again, tiny but full of challenge. "Well, I'll never be cursed by whatever got you, so I have nothing to worry about."

"Oh, that's how you're going to play it." He made to weave out of Yuu's reach, but an elbow threw him aside and the ball was knocked away mid-bounce. Yuu caught it and darted away.

"Nope," he said, bolting past. "This is."

"Cheap shot!" Tagiru shouted, barrelling after him. He felt his face splitting into a grin before he could stop it. He couldn't even care. Someone was playing against him and they didn't suck.

About half an hour later, they had to stop. His throat felt raw from lack of air. Tagiru stumbled back to his sports bag, managing to twist open his water bottle. A fourth of it sloshed down his shirt, but he didn't really care. He closed it and tossed it back to Yuu, who barely looked winded. Yuu kicked it back to him.

"I'm fine," he said, though there was a catch in his breath. "Who knows where that bottle's been?"

"In my mouth," Tagiru sniped with a snicker. "Suit yourself!" He swallowed the rest, watching Yuu wipe sweat from his face. "I should play more… I shouldn't be tired right about now."

"Most people at the school don't like to play if it's not an official team," Yuu noted, sitting down on the bench. "It's just not as "serious"."

Tagiru lazily threw the ball at the fence. "Screw serious. If it's not fun, I'm not in."

"Is that why Ryouma's always telling me you need tutors?" Yuu closed his water bottle. "He keeps asking me if I wouldn't mind tutoring you."

"So why don't you?" He didn't mean to make it sound like a challenge, but he couldn't help himself. It wasn't because Yuu was his type (He didn't even know what his type was.) or anything, but the guy had to rub him the wrong way for _some_ reason.

Yuu sighed. "You can know the material, but that doesn't mean you know the material well enough to teach it."

Tagiru turned this statement over and whistled. "Damn, that's deep."

"So are you for understanding it." Yuu sounded amused.

Tagiru rolled his eyes. "I was complimenting you, geez."

"So was I."

His voice was back to its somewhat frosty, detached self and Tagiru sighed. "Would you make up your mind on if you're an asshole or not?"

"That seems like something you've settled on all on your own, isn't it?" Amusement made his lips twitch.

Tagiru intended to ignore it. "You don't exactly give me reason not to."

"Force of habit," Yuu said, then blinked. He looked surprised.

Tagiru grinned. "I knew it!"

Yuu stared at him and then laughed. He had a nice laugh."You do like to get under other people's skin, don't you?"

"Force of habit," Tagiru parroted before he could stop himself. They both laughed themselves. "But seriously, yes. No one likes me if I don't."

"Can't imagine why."

Tagiru almost threw his water bottle, but decided it was a waste of good water. He laid back, watching the projector scoreboard disappear. For a little while, they relaxed in companionable silence. Then a siren went screaming past them. They both sat up and turned, and before their eyes, a trail of smoke wafted up over the faint traces of leaping flames.

 _That,_ Tagiru thought, _is one_ big _fire._

Yuu hopped to his feet and pulled something from his pocket. Tagiru felt his blood spike, energy thrumming at the sight of the device. It looked like someone had taken a microphone, hacked it, then painted it sunshine yellow. He had a horrible urge to snatch it, to run off with it and play with it until his fingers fell off. He caught himself. _What the hell was that?_

He'd never had much of a flair for tech. The doctors claimed that and his scrawny build were why he couldn't use magic tech worth a hoot if it didn't have an on-off switch. The more he stared at that weird thing, however, the more he looked at it, the more he felt like he was on fire. In a good way. Was there a good way to be on fire?

Yuu didn't seem to notice his distress. He was pressing the wheel as many ways as he could. Nothing happened and he grimaced. Tagiru tore his gaze away, getting up and making to leave the court. No one would steal his bag, probably.

"Where are you going?" Yuu's head had snapped up at the sound of his footsteps.

Tagiru paused mid-step, bouncing from foot to foot. "I'm gonna see what's causing it."

"And do what?" Yuu's voice had somehow become steel. Tagiru would admire it if he didn't need to get out of here and as far away from that weird ass device as fast as possible. "Do you have a good synch rate? Is your body a fire affinity?"

"I have no idea!" It probably wouldn't hurt him to find out to be honest. He should know, but he didn't listen to doctors who used longer sentences to tell him something than they did to explain something. "But that doesn't matter! There's still a way I can do something to help, right?" And he needed to stop vibrating, that stupid thing the school prince had was making him _vibrate_ and that was weird so who really cared?

"Then why are you going?"

Tagiru almost threw up his hands. "Because someone has to!" He really needed a reason for this? Whatever! He bolted before Yuu could ask another annoying question.

Yuu watched him go, face pale. "Damn it... so that's what Ryouma was talking about." He sighed and pulled out his phone. "Better call him... and find a way to open a gate..." He trailed off and looked at his feet, a shiver running up his spine.

"Back to the old grind." He went after Tagiru.

* * *

The air gave one last defiant twist, and the little dragon dropped to the ground. Gumdramon yelped in pain, rubbing his sore rear end. "Coulda had a better landing, stupid old hag," he grumbled. He guessed he should count his blessings though, he wasn't eternally grounded anymore. He had deserved said grounding, but still.

He straightened and took a sniff. Human world all right... all the rumors said it was a little smellier than the Digital World, at least in a techie way. Data smells came from _everywhere_ and it was weird! He moved to his feet, swishing his hammered tail. There was another scent, like the energy above his jailor's fingers, only with more sulfur. A fire. A Digimon's fire. In the human world. He knew that he wasn't first, which sucked.

But there was some asshole idiot here too.

Gumdramon couldn't help his grin. He would be able to teach some lump some manners, and wouldn't get in trouble either. Fine by him.

There was a faint creak and Gumdramon bolted behind a pile of rice sacks. Light spilled into the room and a girl stepped in.

'Human?' She didn't smell it, but he had never smelled humans before, so how could he know? Tanned skin, dark hair, eyes that glowed, they didn't feel human. They seemed somewhere beyond Angewomon, somehow.

If that made any sense at all in his explanation to the king, he would be happy.

The girl left the door ajar, moving towards the center of the room in fast strides. "There was one here," she mused to herself, looking around. "The two of them aren't the same, I think. So..." Her eyes darted towards Gumdramon's hiding place. "Excuse me," she said. "I know you're in here and I would like to ask you for your help." She reached into a pocket. "I need to take care of the creature outside and in this state, i can't do it by myself."

Even in the dim light, Gumdramon could make out what the girl was holding. He smiled a little. "Well, that's cool," he said, moving into her line of sight. "Where can I get one of those?"

The girl smiled back. "I wonder about that."

* * *

Tagiru skidded to a halt with a cough, covering his mouth. Man, he was never going to complain about his dad setting off the smoke alarm again. This was _nuts_.

The firefighters were already down there, trying to hose down the remnants of a ramen shop. The shopkeeper was coughing into his hands, covered in soot as he was led into a just arrived ambulance. There were little robots dropping sand, being directed by a few women with conductor batons, while another lifted sacks of it, bursting them open and dropping the sand over flames like bombs.

Tagiru swallowed. The fire was spreading higher still... but it was so random! He squinted. It didn't even look like it was spreading! It looked like it was just... popping into existence. Flames didn't work that way, he knew that. So where would it pop up now?

Someone screamed and windows shattered overhead, flames roaring out into view. Tagiru squinted from the heat, making out a shadow going from one building to the next.

He glared. "You ain't gettin' away from me!" He bolted after the shadowy creature, running into the darkness of an alley. "Get back here, you bastard! You could be killing people like that!" He stopped to catch his breath and grimaced. "Where are you hiding? Come out and fight!"

There was a low laugh and a burst of flame. Tagiru ducked and rolled. This guy was gonna have to do better than that!

"Gonna hide behind your matchbox, huh?" Tagiru felt around and grabbed a fallen pipe in both hands. He lunged forward and hit something.

It yelped in pain. "How dare you?"

Tagiru cocked a grin. "I could ask you the same thing!" He swung again. Whoever it was grabbed the weapon and threw him at the wall with it. Stars blinked into his eyes.

"Mouthy brat," muttered the voice. Embers flickered into view, revealing a man robed in fire and yellow. "You really thought a pipe would take down me, the dream-eater FlaWizarmon?" He lifted one oversized match. "Let's see how much energy you have when you're on fire!"

Tagiru tried to move, but caught sight of the burning matchhead. _'Come on, now is a real good time for a second wind.. '_

What happened instead was something wrapping around the weirdo's wrist. A purple dragon floated into view, tail wrapped around the enemy's arm. "Well, you're kinda lame," it said with a grin. "Picking on some helpless humans like you're so cool. Che!" He landed in front of Tagiru. "Looks like more trash for the almighty Gumdramon-sama to put you in the compost box!" He lunged forward and knocked the other away.

Tagiru made himself get up. "What's happening?"

"The Digimon have returned."

A girl held out her hand, and she had _not_ been there a second ago. Tagiru took it, noting the solemnity in her face. "Who the heck are you?"

The girl smiled wearily. "Kazuko Tomoe." She turned away. "Watch closely now. You're involved in this, like it or not."

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ Welp, I'm finally done. At least posting things. Now it's on to everything else involved with this. I know, why, Aiko, why? Well, because I want to. And because I won't have internet for four days because move. Don't judge me. Or do. I'm doomed anyway. Anyway... this is a rather odd Hunters AU I've had bouncing in multiple forms (I ended up splitting the original idea, just so I could get one version of it done. What happened in the actual Xros Wars... well, you will see! So until then, enjoy and please leave a review. It helps a lot! Thanks!

Challenges: Pairing Diversity Boot Camp prompt - heart, AU Diversity Boot Camp prompt - earn, Multi Chapter Boot Camp chapter 1 prompt - alert, What-If Challenge, 28 Days of Love day 5, Season Rewrite Challenge, Diversity Writing Challenge (Digimon) L13., AU Devils of Doom 322. Magitek!AU, and Advent Calendar Challenge day 10. Goodness, that was a lot.


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